When new employees join a company, they are expected to have a certain level of professional skills and will be competent in their jobs. However, sometimes part of the job does require more than just skills. Performing a job well in any organization requires teamwork, a good understanding of the culture of the company, and an awareness of the policies. New employees cannot pick these up from anywhere else, except in the organization itself. Therefore, it's always a good idea to have some form of orientation activities in the company. Never dismiss orientation just because time does not permit and have an employee start work immediately. Doing this will create a stressful experience for the employee because he or she may have feelings of anxiety since it's a new job. Allow time for the new employees to settle down, get to know their colleagues, environment and company policies better, and they'll be more comfortable in their jobs and ultimately, perform better. So what are some of the orientation activities that can be carried out? Here are several ideas that you may want to consider.

Attach the new employees to a senior staff in the company. This person can be a fellow colleague of the same level and should not be the direct supervisor of the new comer. This will allow the new employees to make new friends quickly and knowing that there's someone to turn to if he or she needs help is definitely assuring. Have the senior staff take the new employees on a short orientation tour. The tour shouldn't be hurried, as this will defeat the purpose of helping the new employees to deal with any anxious feelings. Show them around the offices, work site, and introduce them to the other fellow colleagues. Doing this will help the new employees learn who is who in the company, and who does what in the company very quickly. This new knowledge will certainly help them in their job functions later on.

For introducing company policies such as human resource policies, safety policies and so on, try to organize video viewing sessions instead of just throwing a thick manual at the new employees and tell them to go home and read. The key here is to create opportunities for interaction. This is not only important for new employees but for existing employees as well. Existing employees will certainly get to know the new comers better. And they are also more likely to help them feel more at home if they feel that they know the new employees. So create the opportunity for them to talk to one another. Let them ask questions after the video sessions, and allow the senior staff to provide the answers.

Perhaps subconsciously, through all the interactions and the orientation activities, the new employees would have a good overall impression of the company's culture: how the company thinks and functions. This is made possible only if time is invested in conducting the orientation activities, so nobody should consider orientation as a waste of time and should treat such activities seriously.